Financial News and Advice in Singapore

The 3 Credit Cards We Should Have that Don’t Exist Yet

Credit cards pretty much offer all the rewards for your lifestyle – from travel to dining to shopping. But what about other aspects, like keeping fit?

We’re big believers of utilising credit cards to save money. But there are also moments when we wonder why there aren’t more types of cards. Hi banks, if you’re reading this, here’s our wishlist credit cards.

And readers, while you can’t get these dream credit cards, you can get their closest real-world equivalent.

1. A Video Gamer’s Credit Card

You’d think the banks would have caught on to this by now. Many of the leading MMORPGs have more subscribers than countries have people – MapleStory at its peak had over 100 million registered users.

Imagine this: a credit card where, if you pay for your World of Warcraft subscription through it, gives you a special pet. Or if you buy any game with this credit card, you get to use reward points for downloadable content for the game. Or if the MMORPG is vulgar enough to be play-to-win, you get cash back in the form of in-game currency – for every real world purchase, you get back 6% in ISK or gold.

They could also give a choice of skins for the credit card itself, like what Visa is doing with Pokemon – get your favourite character or game in glorious graphic art on the card, instead of the usual grey or black backdrops.

Do you know how many gamers will go for this? The bank’s applications page will be so crammed, it’ll shut down faster than EA’s servers when more than two people log on.

Closest Real World Equivalent:

Sadly, almost none exists. The best you can do is find credit cards that give you discounts on electronics. It’s much easier to buy your $3,000 monster gaming rig when it’s in 0% interest instalments.

However, cards like the UOB One Card can give you this deal in Challenger.

2. A Card for Gym Rats and Fitness Lovers

Despite the fact that it’s a depreciating asset, we pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into shaping our body every year. Maybe it’s because our body has the ultimate lock-in clause – love it or hate it, there’s no way to switch it.

Gym rats and fitness lovers are the top spenders here. They will happily spend an impressive chunk of their income on supplements, equipment, and travel tickets (to exercise or join a marathon in a foreign environment).

And even if we’re not extreme gym rats, we all know the pain of pricey packages and membership renewals. If we’re going to pay for something recurring, we may as well get rewards points for it.

Imagine if paying your gym fees or buying supplements could give you VIP access or bonus one to one training sessions. And how about having a rewards list that is heavier on health products and sports equipment, instead of random assortments of socks and lamps?

To round it off, print some exercise routines and diagrams on the credit card, to get the mood right.

Closest Real World Equivalent:

Look up the gyms themselves, instead of credit card details. Different gyms will have deals with different banks, which change on a regular basis. Some cards can even give you discounts on personal training sessions.

For supplements and health products, go with a cashback credit card. This will allow you to get the best deals, without confining you to a particular store or brand.

3. Credit Cards for Music Lovers

Sure, we get the occasional credit card offer for concerts, but it’s not often that you find these promotions. Maybe you get to use the VIP line (which is frankly just as crowded) for a concert, or get to be the one in the 70,000 odd concert goers who have a backstage pass. There really is a lot more than can be done here.

Imagine a credit card with a rewards tier geared toward music – users can trade in points to download songs. That ought to ease off the massive piracy problem slightly, if record companies could work with banks.

Gear is another issue. Rather than generic store discounts, these cards could focus on typical music-lover purchases. High end headphones, speakers, and maybe even instruments. It’s not uncommon to need interest-free instalments on more expensive instruments like a grand piano. Some are also compulsive collectors who could really benefit from the points.

And if some credit cards can give discounts for gym packages, why not for music schools? We might even encourage music literacy a little bit.

Closest Real World Equivalent:

Sadly, the closest you’ll come is when the events organiser announces a credit card deal. Every so often, an organiser will proclaim all users of a certain credit card will get one-for-one tickets, or a higher tier ticket (closer to the front) at lower cost.

You can also look for credit cards that give you rewards for the purchase of iTunes or Google Play gift cards – if you spend a lot of money on these you may as well get some cashback.

You can’t get any of the dream cards sadly, at least not yet. But in the meantime, you can find the best credit cards in Singapore at SingSaver.com.sg. And comment to let us know what cards you’d like existing in the market!

““I used to be scared of credit cards, but SingSaver.com.sg made me realise that I don’t have to worry about debt if I pay my bill on time each month. I found and applied for a cashback card easily on their website. Love it.””